DHS Highlights Two Cybersecurity Initiatives to Enhance Coordination with State and Local Governments and Private Sector Partners

Release Date:

November 18, 2010

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

Washington, D.C. - Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today highlighted two important cybersecurity initiatives that enhance coordination and information sharing with state, local, tribal and territorial government and private sector partners—building on a series of recent cybersecurity measures that increase our nation’s ability to protect against cyber threats.

Today, DHS officials joined White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt and representatives of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) in East Greenbrush, N.Y., to launch the MS-ISAC Cyber Security Operations Center, a 24-hour watch and warning facility. The new operations center builds on a long-standing information sharing partnership between MS-ISAC and the Department and will both enhance situational awareness at the state and local level for the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC)—the DHS-led integrated cyber incident response hub—and allow the federal government to quickly and efficiently provide critical cyber risk, vulnerability, and mitigation data to state and local governments.

Additionally, last week, DHS signed an agreement with the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC) to embed a full-time analyst and liaison to DHS at the NCCIC. The IT-ISAC consists of information technology stakeholders from the private sector and facilitates cooperation among members to identify sector-specific vulnerabilities and risk mitigation strategies. Under a cooperative agreement with DHS, the MS-ISAC will also have a permanent representative at the NCCIC. Both the IT-ISAC and MS-ISAC had representatives at the NCCIC during Cyber Storm III.

The two initiatives build on a series of recent cybersecurity accomplishments that also facilitate coordination and information sharing with government and private sector partners. In October, DHS and the Department of Defense (DoD) signed an agreement that deploys a DoD support team to the NCCIC to enhance the National Cyber Incident Response Plan and sends a full-time senior DHS leader and support team to DoD’s National Security Agency. In September, DHS conducted Cyber Storm III, a cyber incident response exercise, which included participants from seven Cabinet-level departments, 11 states, 12 countries, 60 private sector companies, and representatives from the MS-ISAC and IT-ISAC.